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She had a Royal Decree, find the man with the power to end dynasties with a swipe of the hand, the man who could kill millions with the force of the Spirits themselves, and end him. For the good of the world that was planned. For the good of the Fire Nation. Mostly, for the good of herself. If she failed, she’d sink to the level of her brother. She’d rather take her life than do that .
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“The Earth King and the Council of Five do not trust their own guardians. They imprisoned the Grand Secretariat. They’d rather throw away the lives of their subjects and live in decadence than face their flaws. Now that they have tasted autonomy, they will try to keep it. The Earth Kingdom will fall into warring states, the Agrarian Zone will burn, the Lower Ring will be put to the sword, the Middle Ring will be looted, and the Upper Ring will fall to the man with the most gold, but so long as the Royal Palace is free, they will be content. Seizing power today is a matter of life of death.” The Princess strode back and forth down the block of statuelike men, her eyes set on the far -but perfectly well lit- walls of the Crystal Catacombs.
She stopped, spun on her heels, and marched back down the ranks. “This liberation must be swift and decisive. Every moment wasted, more of the Lower Ring is put to the sword. The Earth King has a voice, nasal as it is, and that voice can call peasants to kill. He must go. His dynasty has lost the Kingdom’s Mandate, as it is, and must go. The Council of Five would rather be warlords. Officers and officials in their rich estates are to be taken before they rise for breakfast. Imprison if you can, execute if you cannot. The Grand Secretariat has chosen me to oversee this operation, and I have chosen your Lord Daiyu to enact it.”
She stopped, turned, and glanced at the crowd of agents, hands behind their backs, hats pulled back to allow the Princess to examine each. ‘A soldier wearing a helmet often has something to hide’, she had said previously. Hats were not helmets, but they concealed the eyes. In fact, the only agent present wearing his hat was Lord Daiyu, who was not present. He was sitting on the ceiling, sipping chi-enhancing tea recently liberated from the store rooms of the Royal Palace’s Hall of Supreme Fertility. A shipment was due to leave for the Home Army garrisoned in Haidian, but the Minister of Finance had decided that he would take the shipment for himself. The Minister of Finance disappeared, but the tea remained, liberated.
The Princess resumed her quickstep. “These warlords in waiting have no respect for our ethics, our moralities, our sense of justice. I believe justice should be fair. If I hear of any insubordination, any breakings, any violations, I will treat you fairly.” She halted, breathed out, brought her hands to her chest, and a coil of lightning was born. She pointed at an empty stretch of wall and the lance of lightning blasted a hole in it. “I do not respect incompetence. You are all dismissed. Lord Daiyu?” The man hopped off the ceiling, slid down one of the giant columns holding the cavern up, landed next to her, and held up his cup of unspilled tea. “Yes, Your Royal Highness.” He sipped his tea, grabbed the cup worth a hundred gold, and crushed it to bits in his rock glove. The Princess strode away as he -and the battalion of present agents- bowed to her, then slid away, back into the walls.
The acrobat cartwheeled into standing up properly. “That was the best speech I’ve ever heard, Azula. You’re really good at speeches. Have you considered poetry?” the heiress to Omashu, meanwhile, smiled dimly. (a top official considered renaming it to ‘New Ozai’ to honor the regnant Fire Lord, but after the sole meeting between the Governor and Princess, he decided against it. “Omashu held religious and symbolic value,” the Princess stated, “New Ozai would forever empower the civilians to rebellion, and Ozai is as mortal as his father.) “Have you considered that appealing to their ethics would lead them to insurrection?”
The Princess picked up a tea cup, the acrobat deftly poured tea for her, and sipped it. “Actually, yes. A ruler rules lords. Lords rule subjects.” She turned towards the two others, the tall auburn haired man and the taller black haired man, both hands at their sides. “My lords?” The auburn man nervously glanced around, objectively confused at the question. The black haired man put his hand to his chest. “Xishaners will respect the Dragons so long as the Dragons burn the Spirits.” “Good. We have no need to throw away tens of thousands of lives in a campaign to exterminate your people, then. That’d be such a waste of time.”
She then turned towards the auburn haired man. “And you, or did the owl-cat remove your tongue with it’s talons? Or did Ty Lee?” The Princess turned to the acrobat. “We need to talk about you, and how you choose to pay your business partners.” “Your Highness,” he bowed his head, “Islanders like Islanders. I think they’ll like your reforms more than the Earth King, but they like daofei more than the Earth King. With due respect,” “You have none, continue,” He bowed his head again, “the Dai Li were made as a stopgap, not as a replacement. They will respect the Dragon Throne, so long as the Dragon Throne does not harm their loved ones, or break their ethics.” She smiled.
“Ty Lee, tea for the lords, and lady.” The acrobat spun around and swiftly danced from woman to man to man, pouring each tea, then placing the tea pitcher back down on the small stone table. The five raised their cups and waited on the Princess. “To victory.” “To victory,” the four declared. “To a stable realm.” “To a stable realm!”, and the five drank as one, the three ladies taking gentle sips, the southern lord taking a longer sip, and the northern lord downing the whole cup in one gulp.
“Your Royal Highness,” came the voice of Lord Daiyu. The five turned to see him emerging from a hole in the wall, yet another secret entrance that the five of them did not know. “Lord Daiyu, is everyone we don’t like dead yet?” “The traitors, your brother and uncle, have been spotted rising from bed. They will be at the Royal Tea Palace in half a geng .” The acrobat laughed loudly, the heiress smiled in amusement, the southerner blinked, and the northerner chuckled. “You must have fun times watching through windows. Do you watch through my window? What do you think of my cartwheels? I could teach them to you-” the Princess raised her hand and the acrobat stopped talking. Lord Daiyu may have breathed a sigh of relief, that, or the cavern had a small gust.
“Let’s go,” was all the Princess had to say. The six of them, Lord Daiyu joining the party momentarily, departed together, the agent leading, the Princess following, her four person tail bunched together after her. As they walked out a tunnel different from the one they entered, the Princess talked while walking. “Lord Daiyu, which group have you chosen to accompany today? Me, or my ladies?” “Your Royal Highness’s ladies. I have unfinished business with His Royal Majesty.” “No neck breaks. Lords Hayashi and Kopyak, will it be tea-time or vengeance?” “The Jade King will give his greetings to this-” and the northerner tapped his crossbow stock club. “Tea-time, Your Royal Highness,” replied the southerner, more formally, “I have yearned to meet the Dragon of the West.” “No you haven’t, but very well. Keep him talking. Ladies?” “Earth King,” said both, the heiress with a hint of nervousness. “Don’t worry, Mai, I won’t hurt your crush,” the Princess said with a smile only she -and anyone in the walls- could see.
“Now that everyone’s going to die, can you tell us where the Avatar’s allies are?” the Southerner asked. Lord Daiyu stuffed his hands in his sleeves. “Go ahead.” Lord Daiyu spoke as he walked, or rather, slid. “The Avatar’s savage friends were given an accurate report of the Southern Water Tribe’s Expeditionary Force being docked in the Feicui. The Kingdom does not work with savages, so they’ve been left to enjoy starving themselves. Lady Beifong was informed that her mother was in the city. We assume she’d go, either to have a mental breakdown and attempted reconciliation, or for some good old fashioned vengeance. Why she believed the Grand Secretariat, I have no idea. Either way, it was a trap. She’s locked up in a metal cell. A pair of intellectuals from Gaoling came with a ransom, so we liberated the gold from the corrupt and threw them in Laogai.”
“And the Avatar?” he asked. The Lord Daiyu chuckled harshly. “I was hoping he’d take his time outside the city to go learn literacy, but he’s more likely to go for a stroll on some holy hill somewhere. Either way, he won’t be returning for a few days. And if he does, the Crystal Catacombs are permanently available for him to have a meeting with whatever governmental body of his choosing he would like to choose. As he has no clue who the Minister of Rites is, I’ll pretend to be the Minister of Rites, then close his gaping excuse of a mouth.” The southerner, northerner, and acrobat nodded. The heiress leaned forward. “Why assume him inept?” “He is a boy, illiterate, and operating on a culture that was archaic when it was first invented. If he had mental acuity, he’d never have set foot within our holy city.”
“Lord Daiyu,” the Princess quickened her step to be striding aside the agent, “have your brothel-maids been released?” “The program will conclude when the administration changes.” “Incorrect. The program concludes this morning. Reality does not end when I do.” “Princess, you’re too good to die!” the acrobat elated said. “And you’re too pure to have dated as many men as you are of age, right?” The acrobat said nothing, the northerner laughed, the southerner reserved his wide-eyed response to the remark, and the heiress glanced at the southerner, leaned over, whispered something, and made the southerner shiver.
The Princess turned back towards the agent. “All programs end today.” “What if Your Royal Highness fails?” for once he had emotion in his voice, and it was interest. “I never fail. Say that the Avatar lands a killing blow.” The acrobat may have opened her mouth, the Princess held up her hand and silenced him, “Do you have a puppet successor lined up?” “No, Your Royal Highness, they are all unworthy.” “Then you will transfer the rule of the city to… a provisional government. Have Mandates ever been picked by nobles?” The southerner blurted in “No, Princess.” She clenched her hand, insolence was disliked, interruptions were a form of insolence, but relaxed the hand. “Some bloated Earth King wouldn’t have happened to fall upon one of your ancestors, right?” “None, unless the Avatar’s ancestors were.” “Well…” she tapped her chin, “...Lord Daiyu, put that man on the throne. Marry him to an Earth Princess. A fertile one.”
“Your Royal Highness,” he paused, “that would only bring more dissent.” “Did I hire the Dai Li to execute the oppressed peasantry?” “No, Your Royal Highness.” “No, I hired you to give them gold, and their wives and daughters back from your program.” She exhaled. “You have nobles to kill. If they bother the new government, that just makes the executions more justified.” “Your Royal Highness,” he submitted in acceptance.
She turned her head to the side and glanced back at the auburn man. “Lord Hayashi, are you not a peasant by birth?” “I am, Your Royal Highness.” “What is your line of succession back home?” “Third in line for the seat.” “Were your ancestors as large as you?” “They were.” “How many offspring do they have on average?” “I don’t know, Your Royal Highness. It has diminished in recent generations.” “That’s why you don’t marry your sisters.” “Cousins,” he clarified. “Did they also like serving tea, cleaning hair, studying strategy, archery, all that?” “They liked ice swimming, whiskey, archery, killing Chin, and their families. I do not know what else.” The Princess gestured to him. “Perfect man. The peasants like a peasant.”
She stepped ahead of the agent and sped up, acting like she knew where this tunnel went, jabbing bolts of flame up the tunnel to ensure it was still straight. “Agent, do you agree or disagree?” “Lord Hayashi, do you agree to be a puppet for the rest of your life?” “Why not, as long as you don’t kill me, Earth King sounds like a nice position. What can I complain about?” “You could die hunting, die boating, die consummating your union, die in the street, die in bed,” “Lord Daiyu, thank you for giving the warnings of rule. Lord Hayashi, it’s your choice. No, and you’ll come back to the Fire Nation. Yes, you get to spend your days here ,” the Princess made the last word sound as dreadful as much of the city was. “I choose going back to the Fire Nation.” “And why is that?” “The Fire Nation’s on the winning side of the war.” The Princess tipped her head. “He is smart.” She then turned her head around the other way and glanced back at the northerner.
“And you, Lord Kopyak? Do you still aspire to be King of the Northern Mountains?” “I aspire to die a good death.” “Great, you’re starting to sound like one of those arrow fodders stuck on a front line.” “I do still aspire, Your Royal Highness.” She’d been more lenient with him, due to cultural differences. To the Princess, leniency meant taking an additional sentence to answer a question. ‘Better to gain information than get to a point,’ she once told the southerner while he was lying in bed, wounded from a water whip lashing open his leg. “That’s good. You’ve got king’s blood. You deserve Xishan.” “Thank you for the compliment, Your Royal Highness.” “And your tribes deserve unity.” “I agree, Your Royal Highness.”
“Lord Daiyu.” “Yes.” “Should any of us die and the operations fail, I want the Dai Li to bring the survivors to the Third and Fourth Armies.” “We will, Your Royal Highness.” “Good.” She stopped at a wall, the agent stated “This is the first door,” and she stepped aside. As he worked on opening it, then the one behind it, and the one behind that, and the ones behind those, she glanced down at her four companions, each holding a crystal for a torch.
“Lords, ladies, your blood will not be wasted today. If you die, Lords Hayashi, Kopyak, you will be interred in the Catacombs of Tottori. Generations from now, all nobles born beyond the homeland will be required to pay homage to your tombs. Ladies Ty Lee, Mai, you will be interred in Caldera.” “Your Royal Highness,” the northerner spoke up. “What is it?” “I have a request.” “Go ahead.” “I want my ashes buried by the West Lake.” “Why not Majia? Or Yancun?” “My ancestors once held the Lakes. Let me rest with the High Chiefs of Beishan, not the Chiefs of Xishan.” The southerner felt compelled to join in. “If Kyoshi Island is now occupied by the Fire Nation, can my family visit mine?” The door swung open. “I will consider it. Traitors must be judged fairly.” He bowed his head. “Thank you, Princess.”
The group emerged in a palace in the Northern Palace Compound. “Why is this empty?” the acrobat asked, running up a wooden wall, hopping to a rafter, and flipping into a landing, then falling into a split that made the two lords cringe. “The Earth King has little taste for concubines. Even the ones we assign to seduce him can’t break through. If anyone shows him too much attention, he breaks down. If anyone shows him too little attention, he breaks down. If a woman wishes to try and convince him to get an heir or two, he breaks down. The only attention he wants is talking about his pets, or philosophy.” “Then win him with philosophy,” the Princess objectively stated. “No heir is better for us, so we don’t try,” the agent replied.
Once they exited the palace, they split up, as planned. Ladies Ty Lee and Mai would go to the Badgermole Throne to wait on the Earth King, and waste his time with trivialities, “just pretend to be from Kyoshi Island,” the man from Kyoshi Island added in. Lord Kopyak -by his request- would accompany them, using the excuse that “I’ll tell him about Yancun, his people like Yancun, and I’m some courtier from there who fell in love with one of the Kyoshi Warriors.” “Was it me?” the acrobat cupped her hands together. He laughed. The Princess and Lord Hayashi -by his request- would head to the Royal Tea Palace and wait to “ambush the traitors.” Lord Daiyu, meanwhile, bowed, explained that he “must return to offensive surveillance,” and walked into a stone wall, opened it, hopped in, and put the wall back where it was. It was as if it never moved.
The Princess wore an informal Dai Li outfit made for female agents, the two Ladies wore their poached Kyoshi Warrior armor, and Lords Kopyak and Hayashi wore informal noble’s clothes. In all cases, all agreed that dresses impacted performance. Informalities were thus allowed, for pants meant running. A similar concession was made with hair, and weapons. The Princess, being the Princess, had none of these flaws, but the rest did. The two ladies did their hair up with headdresses as Kyoshi Warriors would to maintain appearances, the two lords queued their hair. The Kyoshi Warrior-disguised ladies wore fans, but not katanas. The acrobat was fine enough on her own, while the heiress filled her sleeves with bolt-launchers, and her waist, legs, and arms with knives. There were even knives, pin-like blades, concealed inside legitimate pins doing up her hair. The two not-nobles were allotted a pair of weapons as well. Lord Kopyak would not part with his crossbow stock club, so it would be used like a cane. Lord Hayashi was content enough with a ceremonial jian scabbard that possessed a quite functional jian .
The lack of a bow did make him sad. Earlier in the morning, as the five -four, the Princess was up and dressed already- dressed and armed themselves, and learned of the restrictions, Lord Hayashi stepped aside to speak to the heiress, who was tying on her bolt launcher. “A shame I cannot snipe the Prince from beyond boomerang range,” he said, dismayed. “Yes, then his girlfriend would impale you with a mountain,” the heiress replied. “I looked at her aura last time, she wasn’t his boyfriend,” the acrobat flung herself into the situation. “You could’ve used that time better,” the southerner retorted, “like, for instance, the waterbending peasant.” “Ty Lee and wasting time kissing people go as well as the Fire Nation and fire,” the heiress fastened a trigger to dangle from a thin lanyard. When she wished to use it, she’d insert her finger into the trigger and open her hand. An open palm made the cord taut, which operated the bolt-launcher. “Hey!” the acrobat exclaimed, “I only held his hand! And he has such strong hands! I wish I could-” “Ty, if you say ‘hold them’ I’m going to throw up.” The heiress ended the acrobat’s attempt at regaling her companions with flirting. “You didn’t hold my hand for half a day the first few times you met me.” “I had never kissed an auburn person before, I was wondering if their cheeks taste like fire flakes.” The heiress and southerner sighed into their hands. Defeating the acrobat’s flirtatious remarks made them almost as tired as putting up with the Avatar’s incessant need to exposit his ideology all over anyone unfortunate enough to be in his path.
“Lord Hayashi, being the peasant you are, what does all this make you feel?” she gestured, indifferently, at the many palaces they passed. “Amazement,” he said like a child might, with a high tone and a large grin. “I thought Shirahama was large,” he admitted, enthusiastically, “Then I thought Omashu was large. It’s humbling. It makes me want to fall to my knees.” She brought her hands together. “Don’t, it’s not worth it. The man that currently owns all this doesn’t deserve anyone’s fealty. Besides,” she said, haughtily, “The Royal Palace in Caldera isn’t as large, because unlike the Earth Kingdom, we aren’t full of ourselves.”
She held a hand out, gesturing west, “Do you ever wonder why the Fire Nation wins ninety nine of its battles?” “Because you’ve got an industrialized nation and the Earth Kingdom is backwards?” “Yes. We spent our taxes on factories. Imagine if the Earth Kingdom made use of their sea of earthbenders for something other than human wave attacks. They could outbuild us one hundred to one, yet they haven’t.” She halted, “Why is that, my lord?” He blinked. “Your Royal Highness?” She turned around and stared into -through- him. “Oh, this isn't a trick question. You should worry about taking too long to answer. Why do you think that?” He thought about what he’d learned. “The Earth Kingdom is decentralized. A single power claims to control it all, but the power’s in the northeast. It’s not strong enough to keep the provinces in check. The Fire Nation lives along her sea lanes, and the prefectures are… closer to Caldera.” “Congratulations, you won’t be fodder in the next field battle.”
She turned back around and fast walked forward, the Royal Tea Palace was now in sight, in no part thanks to her extensive studying of the maps. “The Earth Kingdom controls too much without any proper supervision. Now, if it was thirty kingdoms, each one could have it’s governor, and they could report to the Fire Nation.” They stopped, a pair of Dai Li agents guarded the side door, the one of the left leaning over to open it. “I wonder what Uncle will think of this?” “I do not know, Your Royal Highness.” “He’ll tell us the Fire Nation’s evil, watch and see.” They stepped in and walked across a courtyard filled with hedges done in the style of the Earth King’s favorite animals, before entering the Royal Tea Palace from an eastern entrance. Without any need for advising, the Dai Li agents silently shadowing them just in case, they -and by ‘they’, the Princess- found the right corridors, bringing them to a paper wall next to the tea chamber. An agent pointed out a hole in the wall and she peeped through. Afterwards, she took a knee next to the southerner. “On second thought, go in now.” “What?” “Agent, a hat.”
Whether it was pre-planned or not, an agent handed the southerner his hat, and the southerner put it on. Part of him knew he was bait, part of him knew that if he questioned his bait-ness, any and all privileges he had gained, such as being allowed to breathe the same air the Princess breathed, serve her tea, spend time with her companions, or be part of the four permitted to talk to her in her chambers -wherever they were- without being executed on the spot, would be forfeit. The southerner stood on the other side of a tea table, put his hands behind his back, and waited.
“-have always believed that destiny is the only purity to life. Destiny has a place for us all. Oh, look!” an old voice shouted, “We’re here. Quick, nephew-”, “my dress is not dirty!” nasally cried a younger one, only to be shushed by the older one again. “-royalty have high standards.” The door swung open and two men entered. The banished prince had thinned, but grew his hair out, not enough to tie it back, but enough to give him an unkempt appearance. The banished prince’s uncle had widened, also grown his hair out, now tied back in a queue. Neither of them looked Ba Sing Se-an in the slightest. The uncle was bearing a tray and cups, the nephew the pitcher.
“A fine morning to you. Fine mornings are the best days for tea.” The uncle set the dishes down on the table, looked at the southerner’s dress, then bowed. “We are beyond grateful to be given an audience with His Royal Majesty.” He rose from the bow. He nudged the nephew to do the same. The nephew proceeded to perform a perfect bow… except the hand placement was a bit high. Once done, the uncle asked “Are you His Royal Majesty’s tea-taster? Deputy minister?” His accent broke through. “I mean no offense to you.” “I am but a witness, an assistant,” the southerner admitted. “You watch the tea?” “To an extent.” On that cue, there was a bird call whistled, and Dai Li agents emerged from the four doors, forming up on the inner walls. “Something is wrong here,” the nephew abruptly cut the air.
“The prince is right! Something’s wrong!” The Princess emerged from behind a set of doors and stood behind a pair of Dai Li. Nephew and uncle stood up at once, the banished Prince kicking the table aside and getting into a firebending stance, hands raised, while the general calmly dusted off his robes. “What are you doing here?” the banished Prince shouted at the Princess. “I’m hatching a bit of a plot, how about you?” The uncle started breathing heavily. The southerner put his hand on his jian pommel, and edged aside.
“Have I ever told you about how I got the name ‘Dragon of the West’?” and the general closed his eyes, brought his hands up to his chest, and breathed in. “No, but I don’t care. Prince Zuko, can we talk?” “No!” the banished Prince shouted, pointing his fist at the southerner edging closer, then the Princess. “Okay then. Guards. Alive.” The general took a rock glove to his mouth, but kicked aside the pair aimed at his hands and legs. The banished Prince, meanwhile, took the wrong target and aimed at his sister, who casually sidestepped his orange fireball. The southerner tackled the Prince into -then through- a wall, the two landing outside. “I got this!”
He did not ‘get’ ‘this.’ The Prince found himself pressed onto the ground by the southerner. “Have you met Hayashi? He’s like a wolf-dog. Don’t worry, Prince Zuko, he won’t bite.” The banished Prince had, in fact, met, during the pursuit. He elbowed his captor in the gut, but couldn’t roll off due to his legs being bound to the floor by rock gloves. The captor rolled off and allowed agents to apprehend his hands. The former general attempted to fire blast his way through, and managed to stomach-bump a few agents into walls, but they recovered and apprehended him, as well.
“Orders, Your Royal Highness?” asked one of the agents as the southerner stood up and rejoined the Princess, the former looking over the latter for any wounds -of which there were none- while the latter scanner at her relations. “Seperate them, bring them to the Crystal Catacombs.” The banished Prince, now forced to stand, had his hands bound together and his feet in chains. The former general was led down the hall by an escort of ten agents.
At this time, an agent arrived, bowed, and rose. “Your Royal Highness, the Council of Five has been taken. As has the waterbender, Katara.” “So this is about the Avatar, too?” the Prince angrily spat. “You going to capture everyone you don’t like now?” The Princess smiled. “Do you know why you and Uncle can’t go together?” “Because he’s too powerful for you to handle?” the banished Prince blurted. “Because Uncle is a traitor, and you are not.” She stepped up to him -close enough for a headbutt, if he chose- and smiled. “If I wasn’t, why are you capturing me?” “Can I trust you to not try and kill me if I let you go free?” The banished Prince’s good eye widened. “Can I trust you to not kill me if you do?” The Princess exhaled, put her fingers to her chest, then coiled up a lightning bolt. “This is how long it takes to kill someone,” she jabbed at the wall behind her, the paper was incinerated, the rest of the wall exploded. “I’m not going to kill you, Prince Zuko.” She turned back around. “Liar…” he said, though his voice lied about how much he believed his own accusation. “I won’t let you go, but I’ll treat you more like you deserve.” With an order, the guards released his hand bindings and replaced them with a metal shackle binding both hands together. “It’ll hurt less now.”
“What’s your plan?” the banished Prince asked as the guards shepherded him down the hall, the Princess and her southerner bodyguard just behind. “Why would I tell you that? Do I strike you as an idiot?” “No… Azula… why are you doing this…” he asked, almost sympathetically. “As I said, why would I tell you?” She pulled the hat off the southerner and handed it to the hatless guard. “Lord Hayashi, what is my plan?” “It is Her Royal Highness’s plan,” he replied, obediently. “You’ve still got your two mercenaries?” “North and South? They’re good, but they’re not Fire Nation, but they’re good. They have the same instincts as Fire Nationals, Prince Zuko.” The banished Prince turned his head and glared at the southerner, taller than him by half a head. “You like killing people.” “Everyone kills people,” the southerner replied calmly, “I’m good at planning battles to save lives.” “Uncle has killed many people, including this man’s relatives.” With that, the banished Prince’s eye flashed for a moment. “Uncle… he couldn’t have,” his voice peaked in realization, “...no, he couldn’t have.”
“Oh, he has,” the Princess declared proudly. “Why do you fight for her niece?” he questioned, turning his head forward again. The southerner crossed his arms and shrugged. “Her Royal Highness is honest about her intentions. She promised no harm would come to me or my relatives, and no harm came to me or my relatives since. My home’s even prospered.” “Where are you from?” the banished Prince asked. “That’s not your business, Prince Zuko. He’s just a peasant. His family lived near Yonaguni, an island in the south, you may have heard of it.” “I have.” As the banished Prince was led out of the Palace, the Princess yelled “Let’s go check on His Late Majesty!” before calling for a pair of ostrich horses.
As they seperated, the banished Prince turned to the southerner and solemnly said “I’m sorry, Lord… Hayashi.” He sucked in his breath. “For what my family’s done to yours, and for what my family’s done to all the people of the Four Nations.” “I have it well under the Princess, and she claims I’d have it well under you.” “I don’t mistreat my men, no,” he confided, “I never hurt anyone that wasn’t just.” With that, they parted, the bodyguard offering his hands as foot holds for the Princess, the Princess climbing on one mount, he on another, and the banished Prince being led off to the Catacombs by a team of agents.
On their ride to the Royal Earth Palace, an agent swung in front of the pair and yelled “the Dragon of the West escaped captivity, Your Royal Highness!” The Princess halted, twisted her head towards him, and scowled. “You know what I think of failures…” she raised a fist and blue fire consumed her hand. “Princess! The Earth King!” the southerner interrupted. “Well capture him again!” she ordered, snapped her reins, and galloped off. The southerner followed suit. The agent looked at himself, breathed a sigh of relief, then resumed his daily activities. One often celebrates after a task is completed.
The Princess and her bodyguard wormed their way through the vast complex of the Royal Earth Palace in mere fen , some thanks given to the various agents who descended from the ceiling to guide her -she refused to be grabbed and carried, “touch me and find out what happens!”- most thanks given to, unsurprisingly, herself. A few days prior, during one of the many dinner meetings she held with her four associates, she answered the northerner’s question of “How do you navigate the Palace so well?” with “I grew up learning how they’re constructed.” The acrobat then, as the acrobat often did, interrupted with “She, Mai and I used to go running around, much to the frustration of all the guards, servants, courtiers, and don’t forget our parents.” “A Princess should know her own palace well, should infiltrators ever come,” the Princess countered, much to the concordance of everyone save the acrobat, who insisted that “You did it for fun .” The royalty had to have the last word in that case, “It was planned, and I’ll hear no more of this.” “Yes, Azula.”
The Badgermole Throne sat in a hall the size of a village. No matter the time or day, day or night, mild day, hot summer or freezing in winter, peace or war, prosperity or famine, rows of Royal Earth Guards and courtiers stood sentinel by every door, and every ten paces along the wall. Except this day. This day, the halls were all but empty. A man or a woman dressed as a courtier stood every twenty paces, only they wore bright green sashes around the waist that no courtier wore. Likewise, out of sight of the Badgermole Throne, agents hung from the pillars. As the Princess and the southerner walked through a side door normally reserved for servants and the royalty, the agents in their way slid up the pillars, off into the darkness.
The ceiling was fifteen stories tall, so high that the top two thirds sat in perpetual darkness.The top third of the structure was theorized to have hundreds of beams and rafters, whole hidden bedrooms and dining rooms. “These were made to be used by ancient Earth Kings,” the southerner postured when asked where “the agents go” by the heiress. “They were master earthbenders. Should they need to cross the palace in a hurry, they could ascend into the rafters. Hidden corridors to travel in, hidden bedrooms to rest in, hidden dining chambers he or she would only share with other masters.” “And all of this is unseen?” the heiress asked in disbelief. “Yes.” “How do they navigate?” “How does anyone navigate a building at night? Experience.” “Couldn’t they just hide crystals in their sleeves” and she pulled on her informal robe, showcasing a gap wide enough to hide a crystal. “Maybe that. I don’t know.”
“Ah, Kazumi of the Kyoshi Warriors! Hayashi, Lord of Yonaguni!” The Earth King bellowed from atop his throne in a nasal voice. His pet… bear… strode up to the two and sniffed them. The Princess knew this was coming, pulled a small piece of meat out, and tossed it aside, the… bear… sprinting over to grab it, inadvertently tackling himself into a pillar. The Earth King was a thin man wearing a massive robe, the chaofu looked more like a blanket than a robe. He stood up to receive them, even though they were the ones meant to kowtow. As he stepped off his chair, he stumbled in his robe, only for a green sashed female courtier to grab him and help him from collapsing. He strode off the dais and, unceremoniously, grabbed their hands to… shake. The Princess squeezed back and he yelped “You have warm hands! It’s like putting my hands in a fireplace again!” The southerner sighed into his hand, only to then be grabbed by the Earth King. His shake was harder, “Ow… you have really, really, strong hands! Strong men are always welcome in my court!” he laughed, nervous at how the two of them were not reciprocating his happiness.
“You may sit down.” The Earth King did. The Princess turned towards her four friends and mouth ‘yes, really’. The Earth King, being a weird man, sat back down, eyed the Princess’s clothing, and asked for a cup of tea. A courtier brought a cup of tea while the five of them gathered together a few paces from the dais . “How has your day gone, my ladies?” the Princess nobly asked. “Very well, we went for a walk and saw a man trip,” the heiress replied for the three. “It was horrible how it happened.” “Ah,” the Princess put her hands together. “We went to have breakfast. As expected, the tea that came was too hot, so we cooled it off.” “How did you do that?” the heiress wondered. “We separated the tea cups.” “Ah,” the heiress smiled. “Where are they?” “I threw them at the floor, I was just that upset,” the Princess pretended to be annoyed, as a noblewoman may be annoyed when a speck of dirt lands on the bottom of her dress. “Are the cups destroyed?” “They are fine… watched well.” “Excellent.”
The acrobat was the only perceptive one, it seemed, going “Oh look, it’s the pretty one!”, causing the five of them to turn towards the two people now entering from the far end of the hall: A muscled man wearing a blue kimono-tunic and a boomerang over his back, and a short woman in a wrestling outfit. The two were running. “Everyone ready?” the Princess’s tone summoned all eyes and ears to her. “Yes,” “Yes,” “Yes,” “Yes.” “Alive, please,” she said, nonchalantly, before leading the four of them down the hall to greet the two with a loud “Good morning.”
“You have to listen!” the young man yelled. “The Earth Kingdom is threatened!” he shouted. “Yeah,” the girl added her voice to his “There was this general, and he was captured by the Dai Li!” “Oh really?” the Princess asked, tipping her head. The blind girl’s eyes flashed open. “They’re in the walls!” She then fell into stance, brought her hands together, pushed them out, and sent bodies falling off the pillars. Some of them stuck the landings. Some of them didn’t. “Oh no,” one of the Dai Li agents said, “how terrible, it appears as if you’re both surrounded,” his paired partner added. The group raised their fists as one. “It seems like you fought the law!” a loud voice roared, “and the law won!” the rest of the room chanted. “And now you’re off to see Gun!” “Oh, come on , be gentler on the foreigners,” the Princess beckoned.
It was in that moment that the Water Tribesman realized… he was staring into the eyes of a woman with amber eyes. “Azula!” he just managed to grab his boomerang when the acrobat flipped over him, went “Hello, cutie! I’m so so sorry about this!” and palm struck him in the neck and poked both his shoulders. He flopped to the floor, but she was sucked into the earth. “This isn’t how the plan went!” she screeched. Then the ground shifted, everyone staggered, and a wall of earth was raised, containing the blind earthbender, the chi-blocked Water Tribesmen, a dozen Dai Li, the southerner, and the northerner.
“Oh-” but the Dai Li agent that said that had both his feet impaled. His wailing was deafening. “Kopyak!” “Hayashi!” “Charge!” The two lords charged her at the same time as the rest of the Dai Li punched their fists forward. The blind woman raised a wall to block most of the fists, then shifted the ground under the northerner, sending him and his club flying into the wall. She couldn’t stop the southerner. “I am extremely sorry about the awkwardness!” the southerner professed, genuinely, “you’re better than these peasants-” she hammered the floor with her head, sending him flying into the sky with an earth pillar. A pair of Dai Li caught him, mid air, and plopped him outside the ring. The master earthbender could stop most things, but the acrobat, she couldn’t. “Stop dancing and die like a girl!” the blind woman stood up, raised her fists… and took multiple jabs to the shoulders, head, hands, legs, feet, arms and back. The blind earthbender joined her partner in lying on the floor. “I can’t feel my back” the Water Tribesmen squealed, “or my arms, or my legs” the blind earthbender sighed. “That’s sad to hear.” Multiple teams of Dai Li appeared around them, grabbing both with metal shackles and picking them up, as dragging them on the floor would take too long.
“What are you doing to us?” the blind earthbender screeched. “What did you do to my sister?” the Water Tribesman asked, glaring down the Princess. The two prisoners were rolled onto their backs to help with transportation. The Princess put her boot on the Water Tribesman’s chest. “I’m going to cook her for dinner, obviously, or did you think I was that evil?” “I’m going to cook you” the earthbender tried retorting, only for the Water Tribesman to loudly whisper “Toph, that’s… not a good thing to do.” The blind earthbender spat up at the five surrounding the two. “I’m going to break all your bones.” “Not from the floor you won’t.” “That’s where you’re wrong, I live for the floor.” “It’s true, she sleeps on the floor.” The northerner and southerner glanced at one another, confusingly, the heiress sighed, and the acrobat said “Can I take the Water Tribesman home, Princess? Please?” “Why?” “I want him to have a pillow fight with me.” The heiress knelt, eyed the enraged Water Tribesmen -who was now flustered by the offer, and yammering non-words- and said “Don’t accept it. Choose a slit throat first. You don’t want to be remotely near her bed.” “Plus, he’s not for sale!” the earthbender yelled. “So you two are dating” the acrobat clapped her hands together and made gleeful noises. “No!” both said simultaneously. “They even speak like a couple!” the acrobat screeched happily. “I’m so proud for you, you’ve got this man!” “Ty Lee,” the heiress yanked her away, leaving the three -and teams of agents- to stand over the two captured individuals.
“Agents, take them away, throw them in a cell somewhere.” “The earthbender got out of the last one.” “Yeah, cause I’m Toph-” “Silence her.” “Don’t hurt her,” the southerner stepped in, “she’s from the House of the Flying Boar.” The Princess tapped her lips, recalled something, and agreed. “You’re right. Don’t harm her. Guards, I order you to transport her to house arrest, in a metal cell.” She turned to the noblewoman, “You don’t deserve being treated like this savage peasant. All he knows is eating meat and taking women as his concubines.” “That’s a lie, he can do more than just eat meat, and he has only dated two people that I know of!” “Yeah!” the Southern Water Tribesman, despite the accusations, was not as enraged before. “I can plan, and I can strategize, and I only cuddled one of those women! How many have you shared with, Your Princessliness?” If he regretted anything, he didn’t show it, no, he was stubbornly proud of himself.
The Princess held her hands together. “None, you insubordinate savage. Now, Ty Lee, chi-block them both.” “Again?” “What, you want it to wear off?” She raised her voice, “Yes, again, I won’t have the day ruined because they conveniently escape after this distractatory nonsense wears off.” The acrobat -for no reason- flipped over the two and poked them everywhere. “Hey, it’s working as nonsense goes! And I love spewing nonsense!” The Southern Water Tribesman glared at the Princess, then the heiress -who looked bored- then the acrobat -who blushed and grinned- then the northerner -who scowled- and finally the southerner. “You, I know your face.” “You do? Of course you do, we dueled.” “Are you from the Earth Islands.” “I am, why do you ask?” “There’s this girl, Suki, I knew. She was very sweet. She and I dated for a short while. She really fell for me. I may have accidentally forced my way into her-” The southerner kicked the braggart in the head, only for the heiress to grab him and pull him away. “I’m going to castrate you with this-” the southerner broke free from his yanking and tried to charge the Southern Water Tribesman, only for the Princess to punch a blue fireball at the ground between the two. “Guards! Take the two away! Now, thank you, or do I need to remind you, again?” The guards picked them up and took them away.
The Princess brought her southerner to his knees with a command -and his knees being caved in- at which point she loomed over him. “What were you offended by?” She glared. “He… my sister.” “You think he seduced her?” “He could seduce me ” the acrobat admitted, much to the sighing of the heiress. “Yes,” the southerner said, refusing to meet her eyes. “Then we shall extract the information from him. In time. If he violated one of my ethics, you are free to enact the justice,” she deepened her voice, “ that I allow .” Her pointer finger became a flame. “Do I need to educate you, Lord Hayashi, on the meaning of fair justice?” “No, Your Royal Highness.”
“Wrong answer. Your offhand.” He offered it and gulped, knowing what would come, but unwilling to break her educational session. She grabbed his hand with hers and he yelped. She let go, and he had a bright red burn mark on his off-hand’s wrist. For most, this would be glaringly obvious. His hands were riddled with such marks, though most had faded into looking like sharp tans or birthmarks. “That is for hitting a prisoner of the Fire Nation.” She looked around the room. “All of you. We don’t hurt prisoners. We are above the uncivilized masses. If I catch any of you breaking the ethics you were founded upon,” she gestured to his hand, “I will punish you, fairly.” She took a knee and faced the southerner. “If he did what he claims, he will answer for his crimes. In time.” She then rose, looked around, and said “Agents! Find the Earth King and bring him here!” “Yes, Your Royal Majesty!” they replied and bowed. “Tend to your wounded!” then she circled around to the five -the southerner standing again- and said “Let’s go pay my brother and uncle a visit, right?” “Yes,” they unanimously agreed. “Glad you’re all smarter than fodder. Agents! Let’s go.” A pair of agents led the way, she trailed, and the four of them, even the southerner and his hurt hand, marched after her, all keeping the pace she set.
The Dai Li led them to a storage room with blank walls. As they arrived, the southerner and northerner were given elaborate composite bows. “Get hunting,” the Princess ordered. Both thanked her. The pair hit the far wall and opened it, revealing another tunnel. “This one leads down to the catacombs.” She marched on down, hand lit as a torch, and the four others followed, with a team of Dai Li following thereafter, the last one in closing the tunnel from behind. The tunnel was lit by crystals, yet, due to the size, was still quite dim.
“What is your plan now?” the heiress asked, having the honor of walking just behind the Princess. Though, in this tunnel, the honor is worth less due to sound carrying. “Prince Zuko is not stupid. Our traitorous uncle has been lying to him ever since he was banished. Father never should have given him such a difficult task. That primed him for failure. It would be like asking you to learn to firebend. Uncle lied to him and used him. If he doesn’t know” she swept her hand, a wave of blue fire went down the tunnel before dissipating, “he’s about to learn. He was used. His whole banishment. Used. Prince Zuko doesn’t deserve it. The rest…” she paused, “...depends on who we find.” “Are we taking prisoners?” the northerner asked, followed by tapping his “Optimally, yes. Practically, I want broken bones.”
As she walked, she held up a hand, “Dai Li, I don’t want any of you getting harmed. Stay at range. In case the disgraced general turns up, I need you to keep him in check. Lords Kopyak, Hayashi, you know how to use your bows.” “We do,” both said in sequence. “Good.” The southerner’s wrist was burnt, not his palm, giving him access to drawing a bow. “I want legs and arms. Don’t kill the waterbender. We have information to extract from her. On no condition are you to target my brother. Is that understood?” The two gave one another a confirmatory glance, then nodded and said “Yes, Your Royal Highness.” “Ladies Mai, Ty Lee, target one at a time.” “Are you thinking there’s going to be more than just… the waterbender, your brother, and the Avatar?” the southerner asked.
The Princess halted, turned around, and stared down the southerner. “I expect my uncle’s little secret may emerge at this oh so inconvenient time for him. If his little secret doesn’t come out now, their hundreds of years of plotting will be for nothing, right?” A pair of Dai Li came rushing up the tunnel, “The general and the Avatar are in the catacomb, talking to the banished Prince and the waterbender.” “Good. When I emerge, entomb the general, but don’t kill him.” She then flicked her wrists. “Today, lords and ladies, we’re going to finish what my great-grandfather started.” With that, she spun around and jogged down the dim tunnel, the rest of the party giving chase.
“-it’s time for you, Zuko, to choose the side of good, of the balance, of harmony, and take your rightful place alongside the Avatar as the bringer of a new age of-” but the general’s voice was cut off. Plates of earth rose up to his neck, grabbing him, trapping him. The banished Prince got in stance and raised his fists. “I expect this sort of propaganda-fueled treason from Uncle-” she examined her nails, not bothering to even acknowledge him, “-but from you-” she looked him in the eye, “-you, Zuko, Prince Zuko, Heir to the Dragon Throne, Sozin’s blood? The blood of five thousand years of Fire Lords? Thrown away, like this,” she kicked the air, “in the name of the Avatar ?”
“Release him, now” the banished Prince stepped in front of the general trapped in stone. The rest of the Princess’s companions had formed up behind her: the Dai Li in a perfect six wide four deep line with rock gloves raised, the two archers nocking arrows, the heiress sticking her hands in her sleeves, and the acrobat… flipping into a handstand.
She stopped twenty paces from her brother and didn’t reciprocate the fighting stance. “It’s not too late for you, Prince Zuko. It will never be too late for you. Uncle has set expectations that go against who you are. You will always have a place to redeem yourself.” “She’s wrong,” the general snapped back, “she imagines my expectations. I do not demand anything of you, until now, when I-” She acknowledged him with a look. “Quiet, uncle. If your values are truly worthy, then they will last a few moments without you insisting they are correct. Be the man you claim to be, and allow your nephew to have agency. ” She turned to her brother. “Prince Zuko,” she gave an affirmative nod and relaxed her posture. “I trust you, Prince Zuko.”
“I need you, Zuko. I always needed you. I never said it, because you were an easy target, but you never got it. I needed you. I needed you for the past years. I had Father and his tutors and generals… but only Father was my true family. Father, who sent me off to war. Father, who thought prowess meant desire. Father wanted a second son, all he had was me. Father was wrong.” She turned to the general. “Would you like me to tell you that I wish I could poison Father?” “There is never an instance where a death is justified,” the general replied, nobly. She made a fist. “If I could. I would. I need you, Zuko. You travelled the world. Zuko, you were born to be a mighty officer, one of the greatest lords of the generation, and with the passing of Lu Ten, you would one day be the Fire Lord. Zuko, you had all that, and your uncle brought you to work at a tea shop where you cannot even bend. That fire in your heart? That isn’t for someone to love, that’s to firebend again.”
She stepped closer. “Uncle has some secrets he doesn’t want to share.” This caused the banished Prince to eye his uncle, who merely scowled. “Whatever she says is good poison, something that sounds nice, but is laced with lies and deception.” The Princess held up a finger. “Unless you want to admit your involvement in the White Lotus, and your plot to overthrow the Fire Lord, and your secret acts of sabotage against the Fire Navy, you’re not one to talk about lies and deception.” “Uncle?” the banished Prince’s voice rippled with shock. “Is this… true? You sabotaged…?” “Bad men needed to be stopped. I did what I had to do.”
The Princess smiled, and closed the gap. “Prince Zuko, there stands Iroh, Grandmaster of the Order of the White Lotus, one of the oldest organizations in the Four Nations, and one of her greatest secrets. Every time you docked a port, he met with agents of the White Lotus, and they plotted ways to stop the Fire Army’s advances. Every time you were told to go ‘check this temple’, it was him trying to keep you away, distant, confused, ignorant. If you knew that officers you met the day before were conveniently dying within the week, you may start asking questions. How has your firebending come along?” “Adequately…” he admitted, bearing some bit of guilt. “A lie, it is poor.” She turned to her uncle. “Uncle has been training you incorrectly for the past three years. That is why you never make progress. If you knew more of firebending, you may be interested to read more about it. And knowledge, knowledge,” she clicked her tongue, “knowledge brings more knowledge. If you learn about firebending, you may wonder why you spent so long sailing in circles. You are Zuko, Prince of the Fire Nation. You are born with the power to generate lightning. Did you know that?” The Princess, with ease, coiled up a charge of lightning and shot it at a distant wall, blasting chunks out. “Did you know all members of the family can generate lightning? And make blue fire? Zuko, you aren’t worse than me. Your uncle has been deliberately filling your head with philosophy since you were a boy. Zuko, do you remember all those times uncle would take you to read and I’d go off to learn to bend?” She glanced at her uncle, then back at him. “All those times…” he held up his hands, “...all those times… I was lied to?” “The Princess lies now, nephew.”
“Or does she?” the banished Prince asked himself, her, her companions, him. “I have been going in circles. For no reason. Why is that, uncle?” “Yes, General, why has the heir to the Fire Nation been treated so poorly?” “I did not wish to educate my nephew beyond what he needed to know, niece. He did not need to learn to bend lightning. He needed to learn how to use firebending for peace, not for war.” The Princess turned back towards her companions and smirked while the banished Prince threw his hands in the air and yelled incoherently. “So what she’s saying is true?” “It is false. I did not restrict your bending. I did not make you go backwards in training. I taught you peaceful applications. I tried to teach you breath control. I wanted to make you the Fire Lord that the world needed.”
The Princess stepped to be equidistant from uncle and nephew, but at a diagonal so that she could watch both. “He wanted to make you a puppet. Do you think he knows only a little firebending, Prince Zuko?” “No. I always wondered why I was so slow.” “You refused to stop venting your anger into your bending, nephew. That is what we worked on. That is why...” but he cut himself short. The Princess let the silence hang in the air, an ugly silence, as more Dai Li filled the cavern. Sounds of fighting were heard from the other side, but it was only at the thrash of water that the Princess went “It’s time. Lords, ladies, guards, go.” As the group charged off towards the fight, she stopped to finish her discussion with the banished Prince. “Zuko, please, do something that I think both of us will agree on. Stop, and think about who you really are. Beyond where you are now. Think about your greater purpose in life. Think about your potential. Think. You will choose as you wish. Guards! No harm will come to him.” Her uncle interjected, “Don’t listen to her, she is trying to prime you for failure! You know who you are! That is why we came to Ba Sing Se!” The Princess then ran off. The banished Prince stood silent for a little while longer, only to howl, fill the air with blasts of fire, and race after his sister… and towards a battle.
The Avatar and his waterbending ally were faced off with a battalion of Dai Li, maintaining their distance. It was a stalemate. The Avatar swirled his staff and sent agents flying, but they always caught themselves. Others were attempted to be blasted off the walls, only to dig their hands and feet into the stone and hold their ground. Meanwhile, the waterbender tried flooding the floor, only the agents had all jumped off the floor. She lashed at pillars, so they jumped from the pillars. The Avatar rarely had time to stop and earthbend from a stance. At best, he was able to fly by and swing his staff into a pillar. One of the times he did, an unknown Dai Li agent grabbed his staff and bonked him on the head with it. He may have broken the Avatar’s head had the waterbender not screamed, raised the stream to be above her, and throw it at this one exposed agent. The man was frozen solid, but cracked. One hand and both feet were left embedded in the wall at the time, and were broken off. The man himself crashed to the floor. He may have died a slow death had other Dai Li not jumped in, broken his ice, and dragged him away. A different unknown agent went on a mad charge at the waterbender. She whipped the agent in the torso, sending him or her crashing into the wall. The waterbender focused her efforts on saving the Avatar, whipping away rock gloves, for that’s all she could do. The rest of the agents kept scampering off into the darkness of the ceiling, too dark for the Avatar to give chase.
Then the Princess and friends arrived. A blue fireball was punched at the waterbender and blocked with an ice wall. The Princess jetted herself through the air, landing far on the other side of the waterbender, bringing a vertical wave of fire down with a falling kick. She pulled in the stream’s water to block the flame, then flung the stream at the Princess. Not stupid enough to think with one direction, she slid to the side and punched five fireballs back. Each one, larger than the last, put the waterbender further and further on the defense, backing until she backed into and through the ice wall…. The four nonbenders took their places off to the side. “Clear aiming?” “Yes, legs, let’s go,” the northerner murmured a prayer of strength from the Great Hunter -his god- nocked, drew, aimed, and thwicked . The waterbender sidestepped it, however, with the arrival of… the banished Prince.
The banished Prince pointed his fists at both parties. The Princess gave some sort of smile, then went on the offensive against the waterbender. Blast after blast send her tripping into the water. The Avatar, meanwhile, struggled to overcome the forceful power of dozens of rock gloves, and plummeted to the earth. The waterbender saw this, shrieked, rose… and was hit in the back by an orange fireball. She turned around to face the Princess, only to have a fireball go right by her ear. “Zuko!” she shouted, flinging a whip at the Princess while she turned around to eye him. “I thought you’d grown!” “I have!” “You lied!” “I was lied to!” The Princess bobbed her head across the creek, and he followed, skipping over the water to start launching blasts at the downed Avatar.
He emerged, flew over, and shouted “You liar! Your uncle loves you!” The Prince took the airblast to the face, was knocked backwards, but got back up, hands raised to fight. “He loves me so much he poisoned me!” the Prince flicked his hands, and whips of fire emerged. He sent them flying at the Avatar, who twirled his staff to try and dissipate the flames. “Now,” the heiress commanded. Both men nocked their arrows, drew, aimed, and thwick . It will never be known who struck and who missed, but the Avatar took an arrow to the chest, stumbled backwards, and collapsed. The Prince halted his offensive. The waterbender spotted this, screamed, and drew the stream back into a defensive eight-armed stance. Any Dai Li rock gloves failed to get at her. Raising the ground didn’t work when she could skate up and down the creek at will. Boulders were too cumbersome to throw and wasted the pillars they rested on. The Princess took this opportunity to hop over the creek and start flanking the Avatar.
The Avatar encased himself in stone. The Princess clenched a fist and thrust it at the Prince, he understood this as a signal to attack the encasement while the Princess would… stand still, and breathe in and out. The stone encasement starts glowing. The Prince lashed at the stones with whips, and as if the action was too intense, the glowing poured out greater, greater, greater, greater, each time growing stronger as the whips continued, until the stones themselves exploded, revealing a room spanning light far brighter than the Sun, the brightest light any of them had ever seen in their lives, the brightest light any man could ever imagine seeing.
The Avatar was rising through the air, his eyes and tattoos glowing as he sat cross-legged, like one would in meditation. The whole room seemed momentarily deprived of air. He kept rising, friends and foe alike watching with looks of happiness from the waterbender, amazement from guards, awe from the Prince and the nonbenders, and shock from other nonbenders. The whole room watched him rise…
Cra-a-a-a-a-ack BOOM .
The Avatar was directly struck in the back by a lightning bolt. As he falls, the Prince strikes him in the chest with a whip of fire, sending him backwards and tumbling through the sky. The waterbender’s happiness turns to tears as she races to catch him. The Princess shrugs, making a mental note of all this, and breathes in and out again… The waterbender catches him, and cradles him in her arms, oblivious to the rest of the world. A fire whip lashes her in the face, sending her flailing to the side. As she struggles to find her bearings…
Cra-a-a-a-a-ack BOOM .
The Avatar takes another bolt through the head.
The waterbender races to grab him, and begins screaming in peril and grief. During this, the Princess shouts “What, you thought I’d end at one? Or walk up to him and do it?” The waterbender had no words, she only wailed incoherently, screaming for the Spirits, for Tui, La, others with names in her dialect, and mostly, “ Aang! ’. The Princess shrugged. “Someone… somewhere… grab her! .” In her current state, she doesn’t even notice the lone agent that dares to approach her. A rock glove grabs her by the neck and picks her up.
“Execution, Your Royal Highness?” the hardened voice of Lord Daiyu booms. “Imprisonment. Wounds allowed. Keep her alive if possible. We need to extract knowledge from her.” “As you command,” he casually tosses her into a wall, separating her from her element and her Avatar. There, two swift jabs encase her hands and feet in stone. Simultaneously, the Princess stepped up to the body of the Avatar. Blood was pouring out of his skull, his chest was still smoldering, and a pond of blood had formed beneath his back. She knelt and felt the neck, the head, the chest, and the wrists, before standing up, smiling, and bowing to the room. She held up her bloody hands as proof. “Prince Zuko, help me with this body!” She wiped her hands clean on the corpse’s legs. “Guards! I want the body embalmed as soon as possible!” “Yes, Your Royal Highness!” the agents responded. “And Lord Daiyu, I want the waterbender in a cell somewhere. Warm.” “Yes, Your Royal Highness!” the Lord barked.
The Badgermole Throne Room, home to five thousand years of Earth Kings, was never emptier than that night. All, from Dai Li to Dai Li disguised as servants, save for a dozen, were ordered to leave. The Avatar’s body sat on a slab beneath the dais , wrapped in an orange cloak. The Princess took her place upon the Badgermole Throne, the rest of her party knelt, not kowtowed. By order, it was the Prince, the heiress to Omashu, the Kyoshi Islander, the acrobat, and the Xishan Tribal. “Zuko, come up here. Take your place.” The Prince did, and stood to his sister’s right.
The Princess clutched the throne with her might. “We’ve done it. A hundred years, and we’ve done it.” She looked from person to person. “All of you will be rewarded for today. All of you shall go down in history. Today will be remembered as the day Ba Sing Se fell, the day the Earth Kingdom was disbanded, the day the Avatar was killed. The greatest day in our family’s history. The greatest day in Fire Nation history. The greatest day in world history.” She almost snapped the throne's arm rests off as she stood up.
“What will Father think?” The Prince asked as she paced back and forth about the dais, “You assisted in ending the Avatar and ending the Earth Kingdom.” “Will Father restore my honor?” She looked at him, and for once, almost had a real smile on her face.
“No, Zuko, you already have. You have been forever redeemed in the eyes of the Fire Nation."
The prisoners would be dealt with, in time. All would be dealt with, in time.
For then, the six of them could raise cups to toast to the corpse of the final Avatar.
"To victory!" they shouted as one.
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It was to forever go down in history as a day when the old ways perished, once, and for all. Ba Sing Se’s authority. The Earth Kingdom. The Avatar Cycle. The war was won, the rebels didn’t know -or didn’t accept- it.
Ten thousand years of division would soon end, now united beneath the banners of the Dragon Throne.